Orally Transmitted Disease
by Techno Skittles
Summary: After an argument with Raven, Beast Boy does something unrational that could risk her LIFE. Can he save her, or will she die before he has a chance? Cliche summary, not a cliche story. READ! - DISCONTINUED-
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **

**GAH! I'm back with yet another story. Darn those plot-bunnies! *shakes fist* Anyways, I will continue all my other stories, but I've had this idea for months now and I HAVE to get it out there. So, yeah.**

**DISCLAIMER: Do I really have to do this? I mean, if I owned Teen Titans, I'd be making episodes, not fanfics. HAVE SOME COMMON SENSE PEOPLE!**

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**Chapter 1**

Beast Boy crept along the floor, making sure to stay as silent as possible. His destination was the couch, upon which his actual target sat. She had her hood raised, obsuring her facial features from anyone who glanced at her. Her upper torso was hunched over a thick, dusty book with a foreign language etched into its pages. She seemed not to notice the changeling which only made his objective easier. He grinned a base smile and continued his crawl towards the couch.

He decided to stay in human form for this mission so he had to crawl on his hands and knees, making the softest almost inaudible sounds on the carpet. His heart raced with anticipation, making loud thudding sounds. With the silence that coated the room, it was a surprise that Raven hadn't heard his beating heart, but she seemed too engrossed in her book to take notice.

Beast Boy ran his tongue along his lower lip. He was almost there, just a few more inches. Her scent wafted into his nose, poisoning it with her sickly sweet smell. Slowly and silently, he pushed himself onto his knees and peeked over the edge of the couch. She still hadn't noticed him and was reading her book furiously. Beast Boy grinned again and inhaled a short intake of breath, but not so quick it would make a sound. Holding that breath, he leaned forward at a steady pace until his head was at the side of hers. She still hadn't acknowledged him. Good.

Opening his mouth as wide as he could, his excitement rose to his throat in a great flurry, giving his vocal cords forcible energy. He turned his head a little more so he was facing her and screamed at the top of his lungs, "RAAAAAAAAAAAVEEEEEEEEEEEEN!"

In the split second he had done so, the empath's eyes widen and she jumped out of her seat onto the floor. The book flew from her hands and landed behind the couch, crashing at Beast Boy's side. Raven let out a loud yelp after she had landed on the floor and glanced backwards, seeing the smiling green prankster. As soon as she did her eyes narrowed in hatred and she put a hand to her chest which rose and fell rapidly.

"What the hell is your problem?" she shouted. "You almost gave me a heart attack you moron!"

Beast Boy sat there, grinning and not saying anything, just staring at her with a triumph look on his face. His mission was complete and was very successful. All in a day's work.

Raven on the other hand was seething with fury and stood up abruptly, still breathing heavily. Her heart was beating furiously and showed no sign of calming down. She turned to glare at Beast Boy once again whose expression remained the same.

"I scared you," he sang. He flashed his fanged tooth and wiggled his elfin ears, taunting her. "You got scared," he sang out.

Raven's eyebrow twitched and she clenched her right hand into a fist, digging her fingernails into her palm. Gritting her teeth, she raised her clenched hand high above her head before bringing it down on Beast Boy's head as hard as she could. He, in turn, shrunk to the floor clutching his noggin, rocking back and forth on the floor.

"Ah! What the hell? That hurt!" he screamed through clenched teeth. His eyes were shut tight and he rubbed his head soothingly.

"You don't go up and intentionally try to give people heart attacks! What kind of stupid are you?" she screamed back. She leaned over to look at him on the other side of the couch where he still laid on the floor, holding his injured head.

"It was just a joke!" he defended. He sat up with his legs spread out in front of him, looking up at the introverted empath. "Lighten up a little, will ya?"

Raven crossed her arms and sat back down on the couch with her back to Beast Boy. The bent up book that lay beside him was surrounded in black energy before it began to levitate in the air. It lifted above the couch and dropped onto Raven's lap. Raven frowned before she started to straighten out most of the bent pages.

Beast Boy frowned and stood up behind her. "See? There you go again! Ignoring people who just want to spend time with you! We're your friends, Raven! Stop acting like you hate us!" He gripped the edge of the couch and leaned over her head. Anger began to boil up inside him which made him squirm. He hated feeling like this, it wasn't like him. He took a deep breath and attempted to repress it, but it refused to be put down so easily.

"I don't hate you even though you annoy me greatly. There are times that I wish to be alone is all," responded Raven coolly. She didn't look up from her book which now had a couple of tears in it. She grimaced. It was a fragile yet rare book and only one of Beast Boy's simpleton parnks had already damaged it.

Beast Boy rolled his eyes. "Which is basically all the time. You almost never hang out with any of us. Even Robin gets out more than you do!" He took a step to the side and propped his elbows on the edge of the couch. "Why are you so stuffy and boring all the time?"

Raven glanced at him out of the corner of her eye before returning to her book. "I'm not the out-going person. I can't be a happy-go-lucky person like you," she deadpanned.

"Can't or won't?" asked Beast Boy.

The Azarithian glared at him. "Bite me," she spat.

Beast Boy's face grew hot with anger. He clenched his hands into fists and narrowed his eyes at her. The pent up anger he worked so hard to control was finally spilling over. He was just so sick and tired of her always putting him down and closing herself off from everyone. She barely even acted like she cared about any of them.

"You asked for it," he growled. He transformed into a rottweiler and lunged at her. Her eyes widened in surprise as he knocked her down on the couch. Stunned, Raven lay there as the green dog on top of her closed his sharp, fang-like teeth onto her forearm. She released an ear-splitting shriek as his teeth pierced her skin, leaving bloody teethmarks on her pale complexion.

Something in Beast Boy's brain clicked and he quickly jumped off of Raven and reverted back to his human form. He stared at her with a gaped mouth, regretting his harsh action.

Raven by this time was sitting up, gripping her injured arm. Pained tears brimmed in her eyes and spilled over her cheeks. Her hood had fallen back and the florescent lights above their heads made her tears glisten as they formed salty trails on her cheeks. She was gasping in pain as she stared in horror at her arm, which was freely gushing blood. He had bitten her deep, really deep. The blood flowed through her fingers, staining them a scarlet red.

"Raven! I-I didn't mean to. . .I'm sorry!" he shouted, panicked. He started to walk over to her only to have her scoot away.

"Go away!" she shrieked at him before she jumped off of the couch and ran out of the room. Droplets of blood trailed after her, marking her path.

Beast Boy stared after her, his mind stunned from shock. Had he honestly just done that? All because of a small dispute? He felt something warm running down his chin and used his gloved hand to wipe it off. When he looked down at his hand he gasped. It was stained with a red, thick liquid. It was blood.

Raven's blood.

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**Author's Comments: **

**Sorry it's so short. But I wanted to leave it at that. The other chapters will be longer, promise. I always find the first chapter the hardest. You always have to have a set-up. Well, here's mine. **

**So please! Review and tell me what you think! If you don't review, I won't write. I have a ton of other stories to finish and others that I want to start. I'm not wasting time on a story if no one's going to read it! I'd like at least 4 or 5 reviews until I get the second chapter posted.**

**Until next time~!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Raven ran directly to the one place where she would always feel safe and comforted, no matter how creepy it was to other people. She ran to her room.

Breathing hard and tears still running down her face, she unfastened her cloak and threw it on the floor. A sob escaped her throat and she squeezed her eyes shut letting more tears run down her face.

Her wound throbbed with each heartbeat and it stung around the edges. She sucked in a breath and pursed her lips and blew it out in a rush. She did it again and again, anything to keep her mind off of the pain in her arm.

Raven wished she could heal it, but the pain made it too difficult to concentrate. So for now, she would have to tend to her wound the best she could without her powers. Sniffling, she sat down on her bed and examined the bitemarks on her arm. They were deep. _Really_ deep. Blood still flowed heavily from the punctures and she began to feel a little light-headed.

She shakily stood up from her bed and walked around the room, looking for something – anything – to stop the bleeding. But everything was too fuzzy, she couldn't make out anything. She used her sleeve to wipe away the tears from her eyes, except there were none to wipe.

Feeling dizzy, she fell to her knees. There was no way that she could've lost that much blood that fast. No way at all.

Nonetheless, she found herself slowly descending to the floor until something hard stopped her. The floor itself was completely beneath her, slowing the spinning room.

Perhaps if she laid down for a few minutes, all of it would go away. She closed her eyes and welcomed the soothing darkness that came to her.

Beast Boy flopped onto the couch and put his head into his hands. He had hurt Raven. _He_ had hurt _Raven_. He, the laughing and joking prankster. The one on the team to hardly ever hold a grudge on a friend. The one who rarely got angry enough to do something so harsh.

She hated him. There was no doubt in his mind about that. She would loathe him from this day forth and it made him feel like a. . .a monster. He shuddered at the thought. He hated thinking of himself like that because it wasn't possible for him to be such a horrible creature.

Right?

A twisted knot formed in his stomach and he felt sweat bead up on the back of his neck. Just thinking of him hurting Raven like that made him sick. He wasn't sure if he wanted to see her just as she probably didn't want to see him.

Beast Boy sighed. He'd never live this down. What were the other Titans going to think when they found out? Would Robin kick him out? Definitely. And this time, he wouldn't have second thoughts about sending him to jail.

Maybe that's where he belonged. It's what he deserved. He was pitiful.

**_She needs help._**

Beast Boy sat up straight. What was that? Who was that? It sounded like it was from. . ._inside_ his mind.

_**That's because I am.**_

__Beast Boy jumped up from surprise. So it could read his thoughts, too?

_**Well, I am inside your mind. I would've thought that much was obvious.**_

__And now it was making him feel stupid on top of feeling like a malicious jerk. What a day this was turning out to be.

_**Raven. She needs help.**_

__Beast Boy's eyes widened and his ears perked up. Raven? What about Raven? What did she need help with? His ears drooped. It had to do with him biting her, didn't it?

_**Yes. But now she needs your help.**_

__Beast Boy sat back down on the couch and put his chin in his hands, his elbows resting on his knees. She wouldn't need his help if he hadn't been such an idiot. If he had just restrained hisself.

_**None of that matters. You don't have much time. Not much time at all.**_

__Beast Boy furrowed his brow and frowned. _'May I ask who you are?'_

_**So you don't recognize me? Not after all the time I've been trapped inside your mind, only allowed out a couple of times?**_

__The green changeling gasped. The Beast? Was it even possible?

_**Of course it is. I've always been here and I don't intend on leaving anytime soon.**_

__A growl escaped from Beast Boy's throat. _'You will if I tell you to,'_ he thought.

_**Unfortunately, you don't have a big say in that. Now, we've strayed from our subject. Raven still needs you. Who knows how much longer she could last?**_

__Raven. Who knew what kind of pain she was in? And all because of him. Beast Boy felt his throat tighten and his breathing hitched. Was he honestly going to cry and show weakness?

_**You're problems aren't nearly as big as hers! So stop sulking and being selfish and go help her!**_

__Beast Boy shook his head. _'How do you know that she's in trouble?' _He was answered with silence. _'How urgent is it? Is it emotional stress from how I could be so cruel? Or how about fuming anger with need to kill me?'_ he thought unenthusiastically.

_**Her life's at stake.**_

Without another word, or thought, Beast Boy dashed out of the common room into the dimly lit hallway. He jumped down the flights of stairs, paying almost no attention to the stinging sensation it caused across the soles of his feet. He just kept jumping, just kept running. Trying to get to Raven as fast as possible. No, faster than that.

He approached her door, something told him she'd be in there. He pushed open the door to find that, sure enough, she was. Except that the sight before him is not at all what he expected. He stopped dead in his tracks, frozen in disgust and terror.

There lay Raven on the floor, arm pooling blood onto her dark carpet. She must've taken her cloak off at some point because it lay limp and wrinkled beside her bed. Her eyes were closed peacefully, more peacefully than he would've liked. This was because of how drained of color her face was. It looked pale and. . .and. . .and lifeless.

Rushing over to her, Beast Boy felt a few tears drip down his cheeks. What if he wasn't fast enough? What if she was already. . .gone? He wouldn't be able to live with himself. Jail wouldn't be enough to contain him and his grief. If she was really dead, he would deserve much worse than solitary confinement.

Beast Boy knelt beside his pained friend and he felt his own heart clench. She looked so fragile. He had never seen Raven like this. Ever. It was scary to say the least.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her chest rise and fall in the slightest. He let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. She was still alive, so he wasn't too late. But if he didn't hurry, that might not have mattered.

He gently picked her up in his arms and got a glimpse at her arm as he did so. He winced as he thought about how much it must have been hurting her and felt his stomach drop ten stories. It was him that caused her that pain.

Well, now he was going to fix it.

He quickly ran down the corridor to the medical room, careful not to jolt Raven too much. _'Stay alive,'_ he pleaded. _'Stay alive, stay alive, stay alive.'_

Reaching the medical room, he set her down on one of the beds and immediately got all of the supplies he would need to help her. Beast Boy had seen Cyborg do this a couple of times whenever someone was seriously injured in battle, so it was nothing new.

First up, blood bags. He opened a narrow closet that was thinner than him and took out a plastic box labeled "Raven's blood bags". He reached in and grabbed a couple, just to be sure. Next, he got a few white towels and a bandage wrap from a drawer next to the large computer (which he was never allowed to touch). He walked over to the sink and turned the tap on so that warm water poured out of the silver faucet and moistened the towel. After he had finished, he had rushed back to Raven whose eyes were now starting to flutter open.

A groan slipped past her dry lips and she sat up, blinking the sleepiness out of her eyes. She glanced around the room, wondering how on earth had she managed to arrive in here of all places. Raven turn to see Beast Boy walking towards her and she felt her heart freeze. On reflex, she clutched the arm where he had bitten her and screamed as loud as she could.

Beast Boy stopped as soon as the scream reached his ears. He wasn't expecting that – cussing, vulgarity and death threats, sure. But not for Raven to scream and in terror, nonetheless. It was almost unnerving that someone as strong as Raven would be frightened by someone like _him_.

Raven kept screaming though, scared out of her mind. She was scooting towards the edge of the bed, trying to get away from him. Beast Boy's ears drooped. He didn't like this feeling of being feared. He wasn't sure why the villains they fought loved it so much.

He slowly made his way to her. Her screaming had stopped and now she just sat there, whimpering. She held her bad arm to her chest, guarding it as if he wanted seconds.

"Raven," he spoke softly, trying his best not to frighten her any further. "Raven, it's okay. I'm going to help you. I'm going to make it better. I promise," he said soothingly. Soothingly enough to reduce her whimpering to sniffling. She sat still, cautious yet curious. Like a small, naïve child.

"I need to see your arm, Raven. I'm going to fix it, but you need to let me see your arm." Beast Boy reached out his hand patiently, waiting for her to trust him enough to see the same arm he had bitten. They could be here awhile.

Raven sniffled and looked carefully at his hand, wary that he might hurt her again. She looked up at his face to see that it was smooth and patient. He didn't look vicious, at least not at the moment. But he wasn't vicious before he attacked her. Besides, she heard somewhere that history repeats itself. And idiots like her could make the same mistake for it to do so.

Then again, he really looked like he wanted to help her. And it hurt so _much_. The stinging had gotten worse and her whole forearm burned like acid. Slowly, she extended her injured arm and placed her wrist in Beast Boy's palm, giving him silent permission to fix it however he pleased.

Beast Boy smiled a small smile and began to work on her arm. First, he took the moist towel and dabbed at the wound to clean up the dry blood and wipe up the fresh blood that still poured out. Each time he dabbed at it, Raven winced. So he lightened the dabs, trying to ease her pain. A single tear ran down her cheek and she sniveled again.

Beast Boy felt like crying himself. Again. He didn't like seeing Raven so helpless, so vulnerable.

Once he had finished cleaning up most of the blood, he set the now reddish-pink stained towel off to the side and began to bandage her arm. Raven sat still and stayed silent. Beast Boy was still amazed that she gave in so easily.

Beast Boy fastened the cloth compress and picked up Raven's blood bag. He stood up from the ground where he had been kneeling as he mended her wound and walked over to the IV staff. He began to hook up her bag to the IV when he felt a light touch on his arm. He immediately stopped what he was doing and looked down at the source of the touch: Raven.

"Rae?" he asked, accidently using her nickname. He knew how much she hated it and right now he didn't want to upset her.

Glistening tears brimmed the bottom edge of her eyes and her mouth was slightly parted. He felt her grip at his sleeve and she pulled herself closer to him but stayed sitting. A warm blush crept across Beast Boy's cheeks as she kept getting closer until she was pressed against his waist. Her head rested on his abdomen and he felt her arms slink around his waist. She squeezed softly and he stood still, unsure of what to do. His shirt started to soak up her tears as she silently wept into it, taking a deep breath every now and then. "I'm sorry," she whispered. More breathing as his shirt grew wetter. "I'm sorry," she repeated.

Raven pulled away and laid back on the bed, leaving Beast Boy to ponder over what had just happened. He began to work at the IV again, but while his hands worked, his mind worked harder.

She said she was sorry. But for what? If anyone was sorry, it was him. She had nothing to apologize for. But instead of saying so, he just attached the IV to her arm and watched as her blood flowed into her body, filling her up with the nectar of life.

Knowing his job was done, he walked towards the door, suddenly feeling exhausted. He dragged his feet across the tiled floor and let his arms hang heavily at his sides. When he reached the doorway, a small quiet voice spoke his name.

"Beast Boy?"

He looked over his shoulder to see Raven, staring him down with those large, moist eyes. Her purple irises shone, brightening their usual dull tone. She was laid on her side and curled up into a ball. She looked so weak and innocent. Pure almost.

"Yeah?" said Beast Boy.

Raven brought her arms closer to her chest and seemed to curl around herself even more. "I'm sorry," she rasped out before her eyelids slid shut.

Beast Boy sighed and left the room, leaving her to heal. _'There,'_ he thought. _'She's safe now. I saved her. She's going to be all right now.'_

_**Garfield, I'm afraid you misinterpreted my message.**_

Beast Boy shuddered. He despised his real name and hated hearing it. _'What do you mean? I saved her. She shouldn't be in pain anymore.'_

There was a long pause afterwards. For a moment, Beast Boy thought that the Beast was gone or just ignoring him. Then, the Beast said something softly inside his mind, but he might as well have screamed it because it echoed inside Beast Boy's head for the longest time.

_**No, Garfield. Raven's pain has only begun.**_

**Author's Comments:**

**Cliffy? I'm not really sure. Maybe? I don't know. Tell me whether you think so or not.**

***phew* That was a difficult chapter. AND YES I KNOW RAVEN WAS OOC SO DON'T SAY ANYTHING! It was meant to be that way.**

**And before anyone thinks it, this is NOT a Beast fanfic! Sure, he'll make a few appearances, but it's definitely not a fanfic centered around him. Also, he's not cruel, but he's not nice either. Think of him as a primal Raven inside BB's head. I guess.**

**To PrincessRockstar1, you were the only one to notice my little typo in the title! ^^; Sorry about that. I had OCDness on the brain (which I'm definitely not).**

**And to KingofRandom117, you are the only one to actually try to guess at what I have planned. Thanks!**

**If anyone else would like to guess, feel free. But I'm not revealing it to ANYONE! (That means you too, Jordan!)**

**Let's try to get 3 reviews! I'm not begging for reviews for some reason. But I still wouldn't mind if everyone reviewed and told me what they thought. :) Also, ideas are always welcome! **

**Until next time~!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

A few days later, everything seemed back to normal. The other three Titans had come home and not a word was said about the biting incident, to Beast Boy's surprise. He was so sure that Raven would have ratted him out, as much against her nature as that was. _'I mean, I bit her for heaven's sake!'_ he thought to himself after everyone had gone to bed that night.

Well, some things never change it seemed.

So on this unbelievably warm, sunny autumn day, all of the Titans were sitting inside their air-conditioned tower, going over what to do that day.

"Dudes!" Beast Boy exclaimed from his upside-down position on the couch. "There's this wicked ice cream shoppe down the street from the town center! We totally have to go there!"

"I agree with Beast Boy! The iced cream sounds most delicious on this very warm afternoon!" agreed Starfire. She slid a silver spoon into Silkie's eager mouth, filled with purple goo that was apparently tasteful. Not that any of the other Titans wanted to try it.

"Okay. So we'll stop for some ice cream. Then what? It's too nice to waste the day inside." Cyborg rubbed his chin in thought, pondering their options for what he hoped to be an eventful day. "We could play some football at the park!" he suggested.

Starfire wrinkled her nose in obvious distaste. "Playing the football is not something I wish to do."

Cyborg shrugged and sat down at the kitchen counter. "Everyone's a critic," he sighed.

"Let's just all go the mall then. They got a cool arcade down by the food court and Starfire could entertain herself with a never-ending shopping spree," Beast Boy said. He began to kick his feet in the air, feeling his own leg weight pressing down on his lower thighs. His head began to feel a little light-weight in turn and his dizziness caused him to fall off of the couch onto his skull. He cried out in short-lived pain before tumbling over where he lay face down on the ground. He could hear loud, booming laughter coming from Cyborg and a soft giggling coming from Starfire. From Robin and Raven came nothing. Not that he really expected anything from Raven.

Sitting back up on the floor and crossing his legs, he looked over at the gray-skinned teen. She sat there, quiet as ever, looking isolated. He let out a quiet sigh. Ever since the incident a few days back, she had been her usual passive self. She didn't act cautious around him or even hinted that she had been in so much pain because of him. In fact, she acted as if it never had happened.

And it drove him crazy. She never yelled at him or threatened him about it. He was expecting a horrible death in his sleep and would stay awake until the sun began to rise above the horizon, half-afraid, half-concerned. Raven never mentioned the incident and went about everyday life like yesterday didn't even exist. She made her tea in the mornings, meditated for a few hours, and read. You hardly saw any hint of the fear she felt for him the other day. In fact, she would approach him daily, giving him her usual snide remarks.

He hated how much she was unaffected by it. Why couldn't he forget it that easily? Was it because he still heard her pain filled scream? Or her fearful eyes spilling tears onto her cheeks when she woke up and found him walking towards him? Beast Boy shivered. What if it was because he still remembered how she _tasted_? Beast Boy immediately stuck out his tongue at that thought. He was _not_ a predator. He would never crave for the taste of flesh or anything like that.

Then why did she taste so good?

Shaking his head frantically, Beast Boy almost gagged at that thought. He would never eat meat, let alone a person. Let alone his _friend_.

The sound of excited clapping reached his ears and he turned to see Starfire, all smiles and joyful. "The mall sounds wonderous! Perhaps Raven and I could partake in the mall make-overs at the salon of beauty and buy new wardrobes!" she shouted. She zoomed over to Raven who was sitting on the couch, you guessed it, reading a book. "Please, Raven? You never participate in the girly teenage rituals such as these!"

Robin stepped up next to Starfire and put a hand on her shoulder. He had to reach up because she was floating a good seven inches off the ground and was practically straining his arm. "Star, you know Raven. She doesn't really like the mall crowd. Maybe you and I go can do something together."

The alien princess's face became solemn and she stopped floating abruptly. Landing gracefully and soundlessly on the ground, she nodded. "You are right. I am sorry, Raven, for bothering you."

The spoken girl sighed and snapped her book shut. "Did any of you hear me say no?" she asked dryly.

Starfire's expression brightened immediately and she lifted Raven off of the couch in a bear hug. "Glorious!" She dropped Raven on the ground before going to her room to change for their "day of fun at the mall of shopping". Raven just stood there, contemplating what she had just done.

Cyborg, who was probably thinking the same thing, chuckled and looked at Raven. "You're in for it now, girl. Good luck to ya." He winked at her and walked over to Beast Boy.

"Since we're obviously not included on all of the 'girl fun'," Cyborg spoke and smirked at Raven who scowled in return, "what are we doing?"

Beast Boy rolled his eyes and stood up. He stared at Cyborg as if he were an idiot and wave his hands up and down in a cartoon fashion. "Hellooooo? Did you not hear arcade at the mall?" he shouted.

Cyborg smiled. "BB, you know I'm gonna kick your ass in whatever we play, right?"

The changeling stuck out his tongue and put his fist on his hips. "Says you!"

"Oh it's on!"

"Bring it!"

The two ran out of the room, eager to get to the arcade quickly. Before they did though, they grabbed an unsuspecting Robin and dragged him out. Raven watched them leave and sighed.

"Today's going to be a long day."

* * *

All of the Titans arrived at the mall, everyone wearing civilian clothes (even Raven). They took in the smells of fresh baked pretzels and greasy fries and burgers from the food court. The voices of all of the shoppers echoed off of the walls, mashing together into one long hum. Starfire looked around eagerly, deciding on where to go first.

"Hey, girls," spoke up Robin. "We're all going to the arcade. We'll meet up back at the food court in about two and a half hours and decide what to do from there. Okay?"

"Three hours," Starfire argued.

Robin blinked and opened his mouth to set her straight. Before he could do so, Starfire crossed her arms and her eyes glowed a bright neon green. "Three hours," she repeated.

The Boy Wonder sighed and rose his hands up in front of him in defeat. "Fine, fine. Three hours. We meet back here in three hours, okay?"

The glow from her eyes faded and she uncrossed her arms, smiling in satisfaction, "Yes!" With that, she grabbed Raven's wrist and dragged her reluctant form down into the depths of the mall.

Cyborg laughed and looked at Robin. "Man, when that chick wants something there's no stopping her!" Beast Boy joined alongside him laughing, too at Robin's now pink face.

"Let's just go to the arcade."

* * *

"What about this one?"

Raven glanced up at Starfire from the white tiled floor to see her holding up a plain lilac dress with spaghetti straps. The fabric seemed thin and was more of a sundress. Something that would not help protect against the fresh winds of oncoming winter. Then again, Starfire was an alien and as their trip to the North Pole showed all of the Titans, she didn't seem to get cold easily.

Shrugging, Raven said nonchalantly, "Go ahead."

Starfire smiled and floated off to the dressing room with the dress clutched tightly in her hands. Raven watched her go before shoving her hands into her hoodie's front pocket and ducked her head down to look at the floor. Her hood concealed her head for the most part, but not as much as her cloak would have. But Starfire refused to let her walk out of the house with it. Raven pulled the hood tighter over her head and slipped her hands back into the pocket. _'Damn preppy alien,' _she thought.

The ring of the cash register was heard off to her left and she looked over to see a little girl walking off with a plastic bag in her hand with the store's logo printed on it. A woman, possibly her mother, followed close behind smiling at the little girl's own happiness. The little girl chimed a cheery "Thank you!" while the mother nodded and responded with promises of ice cream at the food court later.

Rolling her eyes at the "sentimental" exchange, Raven's gaze returned to the floor and silently wished for Starfire to hurry up. She couldn't stand being in happy places like this. Besides anger, happiness was the most hardcore motion. It always crashed over in waves and practically made her dizzy if she was exposed to too much.

Starfire came out of the dressing room, the dress fluently draping around her legs. She flew over to Raven and twirled, giving Raven a full view of the dress. "What do you think, Raven?" she asked.

Raven looked her up and down. Although winter was nearing, Starfire still had her exotic tan. In fact, she always had it. So she always looked good in dresses like the one she was wearing. Quite the opposite of her. Ignoring that last thought, Raven waved her hand dimissively and said, "If you like it."

Only slightly disappointed with her answer, Starfire nodded and floated back to the dressing room, leaving Raven alone again. She slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor and extended her legs clad in black sweatpants. If she was going out in normal clothes, they might as well be comfortable. She couldn't stand that Starfire disagreed and tried to force her into jeans constantly. Why couldn't she just accept their different styles and move on already?

As Raven had finished that thought, Starfire came out of the dressing room with the lilac dress draped over her arm. She headed over to the check out line where she gracefully paid for it with a smile and walked back over to Raven with a plastic bag like the one the little girl earlier had. They walked out of the store together, much to Raven's relief.

Starfire began contemplating on where to go, Raven noisily began to clear her throat and even coughed a few times. Starfire glanced over at Raven who had put her hand back into her pocket and continued looking forward. Shrugging it off, she finally decided to go to a new store that had just opened by the arcade where the boys were. They headed off there, with Raven coughing a few more times only to pass it off as a simple cold.

The second they stepped past the threshold of the store, Starfire began gushing at all of the brightly colored clothes hanging on the fresh new metal racks. She floated from rack to rack, picking up a shirt here and a skirt there, resembling an eager bumble bee on the first day of spring. Raven awkwardly walked closely behind her, barely glancing at the bright printed shirts. She kept her head down for the most part, trying to conceal her face as best as she could. Why she let Starfire drag her into places like this without much protest, she would never know.

She strayed from the path Starfire was making through the store to go stand against the wall, taking up the same position she sat in at the last store. She leaned her back against the wall and kept her head down, refusing to take any part in Starfire's shopping spree. Besides, she wasn't even all that sure she could take a dozen dresses being shoved onto her a minute. She just didn't have the energy.

_'So why did I agree to this again? Why is it so important that I came along?'_ she asked herself. Shoving her hands deeper into her pockets, Raven closed her eyes. Standing completely still, it'd be hard for anyone to really notice her all alone up against the wall. The only thing that made her stand out at all was her dark apparel. Not that that mattered.

An itching cough began to build up at the bottom of her throat and Raven did her best to push it down, but it was strong and persistent and tore its way up her throat. She coughed into her hand, wincing at the painful vibrations it caused in her chest.

"I shall return in just a moment, Raven!" Starfire's voice chimed from a small distance.

_'She must be going to try on all those damn clothes,'_ Raven thought to herself as another cough built up at the bottom of her throat. This time she coughed into her gray sleeve, the vibrations more painful than last time's. Raven put her frail hand on her chest as she slid down the wall and took in a deep breath. "Damn winter. Why the hell do I have to get a cold now?" she mumbled as she went into another coughing fit. Raven shivered and pulled her hoodie tighter around herself.

Another cough tore its way out of her throat and Raven went into what seemed like an hour long coughing fit. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly and kept one balled up fist to her chest while the other blocked her coughs from the air. After it was over, Raven relaxed and felt immediately weak and rested her head against the wall. She opened her eyes and looked down at the hand she had coughed into.

And froze.

It was flecked with blood spots.

Raven blinked, too stunned to really react, let alone think about what she was seeing. All she saw was the blood that wasn't there before she started coughing. Did that mean she did that? Was her cold this serious? Was it even a cold?

Shaking her head, Raven relaxed against the wall once more and brushed off her panicked thoughts. It was nothing. She had a cold and when they all got back to the tower, she would get some tea and some rest alongside it. Nodding to herself, Raven closed her eyes and rest her head on the wall.

She sat like that for a few seconds before she was thrown into yet another sudden coughing fit, this one lasting for eternity. Her chest was on fire from all of the violent vibrations and her throat seemed swollen. Opening her eyes into thin slits, she saw that her hand was now not just flecked, but dripping with blood. Her eyes widened until she was sure they would pop out of her sockets and cough again. This time she saw it.

A spurt of blood flying out of her mouth.

"Damn," she whispered, but it barely breached her lips. Her throat was too sore. She coughed violently again, this time feeling the blood sliding up her throat, running across her tongue, out her mouth and splash onto her mouth. "Damn," she repeated. The metallic taste was more than she could take, but it kept coming, like vomit.

_'I'm not vomiting blood, am I?'_ she thought frantically as blood began to drop on the rainbow flecked white carpet. Like sprinkles, Raven thought faintly as if it weren't her brain anymore. She felt herself swaying eyes drooping but blood still squirting with every cough.

Collecting her thoughts and what was left of her voice, Raven screamed out a frantic, "Starfire!" as she toppled over and landed on her side on the carpet. Her breathing kept getting caught in the river of blood flowing from her mouth, giving her the impression of drowning.

More coughing. More blood. Less air. Blinding light.

These were the only things Raven could properly register anymore and these were beginning to disappear as well.

More coughing. More blood.

More blood.

More blood.

Too.

Much.

Blood.

* * *

**Author's Comments:**

**^^; I'll admit, the ending was a bit darker than I intended. I was going to have Starfire find Raven and the store clerk call 911 while Star ran off to get the guys, but I decided to leave it at just this for now. I'll save all the panic from her friends for the next chapter.**

**And for those of you who have not guessed it (*coughidiotscough*) yes, this has to do with how Beast Boy bit her. That's kind of the point of the story, is it not?**

**Um, I guess I don't really care how many reviews this chapter gets.**

**BWAHAHAHAHA! XD Fooled ya, didn't I? Actually, would 4 reviews or more be good? Please?**

**Until next time~!**


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